Two alleged purse snatchers learned the hard way the a woman’s handbag can contain a variety of trouble and are now cooling their heels in the Elko County Jail, each on a $620,352 bond.
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According to West Wendover Police reports Joshua Carter and Angela Pitkin both 24 and both of West Valley City were captured on a local casinos security video making off with a temporarily unattended purse.
Thanks to the video and witnesses the couple was quickly captured and upon opening the purse police found what began as petty theft was now a major drug bust.
124 prescription pills all made out to the victim became 124 separate felony counts of possession of controlled substances.
According to Nevada law, explained West Wendover Police Sergeant David Wiskerchen it is a felony to illegally obtained prescription drugs made out to someone else.
“It doesn’t even have to be a narcotic,” Wiskerchen explained. “If you steal someone else’s prescription medicine like birth control pills, its a felony.”
And each and every pill, according to the statute constitutes a charge by itself.
“This serves as a great reminder to always keep your wallet, purse or other valuables with you at all times and never leave them unattended,” Wiskerchen wrote in the press release. “It also might be a good lesson for would be thieves to especially avoid purses. You never know what might be in them.”
Nevada has some of the toughest drug laws in the country and with the amendment of the Uniformed Controlled Substances Act in 2007, illegally obtained prescription drugs are now treated as just as cocaine and heroin.
